This sublime large-format book jumpstarts my escapist heart and makes me long for wide water, pine needles, woodsmoke and gritty coffee. It features paintings, sketches, photographs, contemporary and historic essays, anecdotes, journal entries, book excerpts, interviews, and much more on the topic of canoe-tripping. It's the stuff a canoeist's dreams are made of. Stories from the Bow Seat contains written accounts and visual impressions of canoe trips of the past 400 years or so. Some accounts are beautifully worded wisdoms on the essence of canoe travel, others are grippingly descriptive, and still others are pure waggery. They are told by trippers from different eras and of varying ages, interests and levels of ability. In spite of the differing purposes, historical periods and approaches behind them, the selections taken together reflect the universal experiences of all who travel by canoe. So put down your paddle and stretch a while. Take a deep breath of smoke-scented calm, wrap your hands around a steaming mug, and get ready to add your own stories.

Product Description

About the Author

Photographer and writer Don Standfield was introduced to wilderness canoeing at an early age and spent much of his childhood on field assignments with his father, a noted biologist. His canoe trips have since taken him to wild areas across the continent, including Labrador, the Dumoine River, Minnesota's Boundary Waters, and the Canadian Rockies.

Most helpful customer reviews

However, this book DID!!! I found this book in the library about 3 years ago, quite by accident, and started borrowing it during the winter. I'd renew it it over and over, until I had reached my limit, then I'd take it back, wait until it had been processed through and was back on the cart to be shelved, then take it out again...and I fell in love with canoeing again by reading it...which got me reading about Esther Keyser and Joe Seliga and Gary and Joanie McGuffin and James Raffan and through them, Kevin Callan.And it made me want to experience the things I'd seen in the book so much I packed up my car one weekend and drove back to Algonquin Park, something I hadn't done since the 70s.

And what was on sale at the bookstore?

THIS BOOK!!!So, ironically, it's been on a canoe trip already..

My favourite picture is on p. 45 of a person in a seemingly homemade boat, heading off with their golden lab and their old canvas pack on another "5 day trip".. That struck me as the feeling I wanted to have again, heading out on an adventure...

And since that first day I saw this book, I've logged a LOT of 'bag nights' on lakes and rivers, something I thought I'd never do again and something I thought I'd never teach my son to love.

Stories from the Bow Seat is a feast for the senses that brings to life the wonder, the splendor, and the down and dirty reality of the North and canoe travel. The photographs immerse you in the mud, bugs, joy, and divine beauty of Canada. They transport you back to your own adventures and to the adventures of voyageurs long ago. I have shared this book with friends and they have all experienced the same yearning to return to the North and to rediscover their own wildness. If you haven't been lucky enough or daring enough to travel into the wilderness,this book will help you to understand those who speak so reverently and sometimes with such obsession about their canoe experiences. This is a truly beautiful book.

From the evokative, shimmeringly beautiful images captured by Don Stanfield to the prose scultped by Liz Lundell this book is a treaure. The places are displayed as our memory would hope, and persons portrayed in this masterful tribute to wilderness are the perople who know it and know how to enjoy it.Look at the faces of 16 year old girls on Stanfield's image :"Voyageurs nouvelles return home on the last day of a 50-day trip" and the magic of the north is incarnate. Spot on.As a gift or when you need a lift away from urban blight: This is IT!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Amazon.com:
2 reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

This is IT !Sept. 4 2000

By
jbh5
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Hardcover
Verified Purchase

From the evokative, shimmeringly beautiful images captured by Don Stanfield to the prose scultped by Liz Lundell this book is a treaure. The places are displayed as our memory would hope, and persons portrayed in this masterful tribute to wilderness are the perople who know it and know how to enjoy it.Look at the faces of 16 year old girls on Stanfield's image :"Voyageurs nouvelles return home on the last day of a 50-day trip" and the magic of the north is incarnate. Spot on.As a gift or when you need a lift away from urban blight: This is IT!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

The Fountain of YouthApril 26 2000

By
Louise
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Hardcover

Stories from the Bow Seat is a feast for the senses that brings to life the wonder, the splendor, and the down and dirty reality of the North and canoe travel. The photographs immerse you in the mud, bugs, joy, and divine beauty of Canada. They transport you back to your own adventures and to the adventures of voyageurs long ago. I have shared this book with friends and they have all experienced the same yearning to return to the North and to rediscover their own wildness. If you haven't been lucky enough or daring enough to travel into the wilderness,this book will help you to understand those who speak so reverently and sometimes with such obsession about their canoe experiences. This is a truly beautiful book.